Quick Tips For Design

Heidi Baumgartner, M.S.

Communications Director for the Washington Conference.

Great (and not-so-great) design is all around you. Cultivate an increased visual awareness. Find a design you like, and recreate it into your needs. Mimic a magazine spread, book display, event flyer, or another attractive design. Watch tutorials from Before & After’s John McWade, Lynda.com, or read Robin William’s Non-Designer’s Design Guide.

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STARTING A NEW PROJECT

1. Begin with a focal point. What should readers see first? Use strong contrast.
2. Group information into logical units. Show relationships with closeness or lack of closeness (proximity).
3. Arrange type and graphics with strong alignment. Present a visual connection with visible or invisible lines.
4. Create a repetition in the design. Organize design space with repeated colors, shapes, textures, spatial relationships, line thicknesses, fonts, sizes, and graphic concepts.
5. Attract the reader’s eye. Communicate a clear message!
   
   

Designer Robin Williams: 

If everything on the page is big and bold and flashy, then there is no contrast. Be big and bolder, or small and lighter. The point is that it is different.

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VISUAL IDENTITY

A design structure gives you freedom to create within guidelines.

The Adventist Church recently released a dynamic visual identity guide with a suggested color palette, Creation Design Structure, fonts, updated logo, and a variety of templates.

Explore the Adventist Identity Guidelines>>